Foreign RTW: Christian Lacroix

Christian Lacroix: Ready-to-wear
Lacroix is a French fashion designer. His latest collection is from Fall of 2009, and since then he has not continued to design, but has prominently succeeded financially in other areas such as his fragrance line. In his Ready-to-wear collection for fall of 2009 he used amazing textures and fabrics, printed with beautiful metallic elements fitted on draped and geometric silhouettes. His collection as a whole was luxurious and full of glamour, and the individual color stories intensified the silhouettes as the show continued. The Large button accents, lace detailing on nylons and longsleeves, and high collars of both fur and fabric added an extra 'something special' and made this dynamic collection exceptional.
http://www.ftv.com/fashion/page.php?P=4264&id=111503
http://www.christian-lacroix.fr/english/sommaire.htm

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MNG Vs. ZARA
MNG- The floor plan is clean and organized and the price point fits the atmosphere, the employees are not very helpful on their own, but when you ask them for help they are very cooperative and well-knowledged about the product in their store. I believe that MNG is much better in customer service and visual presentation over ZARA. Saying this, ZARA has more selection, but ZARA is a bit more pricy and should therefore present their atmosphere as such. Their product is thrown everywhere, and you would think that it would be more organized seeing as they get new product in every two weeks and they remerchandising nightly. Their staff, although knowledged in the product, were less likely to step out and help a customer, and didn’t look very happy to be there. Their products are similar in price and quality and therefore either store would be a good choice to shop, both for different reasons. One for the quality of service. And the other for the selection of product.

Milan, Italy Fashion Week 2010

Milan Fashion week is taking place February 24-March 3, 2010 in Milan, Italy at the Milano Fashion Center. This event takes place twice a year to display the talent and designs of Gucci, Armani, Prada and many other top designers both local and international. Although this event is by invitation only, the atmosphere in Milan alone entices fashionistas from around the world to admire shop windows and fashion show attendees posing for photos outside the center. With four fashion halls and one sports hall there is plenty of room for creativity and inspiration to flourish and lure the eyes of the many who plan to watch. It will be exciting to see what comes out of this European Fashion Capital as it captures the attention year after year of the global fashion community.


S/S 2010






http://justluxe.com/luxecalendar/fashion-events/event-331943.php
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/milan-fashion-

MARCJACOBS&VICTORIABECKHAM

Marc Jacobs featuring Victoria Beckham. 2008.
Marc Jacobs is not your average american designer and his fashion print ads seem to mirror his designs. In 2008 when Marc Jacobs collaborated with Victoria Beckham and photographer Juergen Teller, Victoria was hot in the public eye. Her husbands newly signed contract and booming soccer career with Galaxy attracted much attention from the paparazzi. So of course Victoria was never a stranger to the camera, but this time Marc Jacobs wanted to mix up the "exploited" stars image. She had always been pictured as a bombshell with stilleto heels and pouty lips; these ads gave the star a doll-like appearance. With an emphasis on the authenticity of Marc Jacobs designs, Victoria was placed in props such as life size bags and specially made boxes that would fit her perfectly. Although these print ads attracted negative attention from many in the fashion world, others saw the meaning behind it and fully embraced the awkward yet charming photographs. These ads were not necessarily made to make the star look beautiful, but on the contrary bring into question, "Is that really Victoria Beckham?" or "What were they thinking?". Attracting memorable attention to both the designer and the star, the ads were a success.

Retailing: New Nordstrom to open April 2010

The long awaited Nordstrom department store in Fashion Island, Newport Beach will open on April 16, 2010, replacing the women's Macy's store. This Nordstrom, one of fashion islands six full-line stores will be 138,000 sq. feet of retail space. This will also be Nordstrom's sixth store in the OC area alone; the five other locations are as follows: Brea Mall, Irvine Spectrum Center, Westfield MainPlace in Santa Ana, The Shops at Mission Viejo and South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa. This will be a great addition to Fashion Island's many upscale stores. Due to the decline of the current economy and less traffic in the mall as a whole, fashion island has taken some of the lower scale stores out and withdrawn their leases from many others as of January 2010. Nordstrom will hopefully draw in more foot traffic, attributing to business for all retailers.

http://retail.freedomblogging.com/2009/05/06/nordstrom-gives-opening-date-for-oc-store/9297

http://www.shopfashionisland.com/Info/California-Nordstrom-Store.aspx

Current Event: Valentino's Eco Modernism

Valentino's Spring 2010 haute couture collection, presented in Paris January 27th, perfectly combined nature and technology creating "naturalistic fashion and quivering clothes". The models which were portrayed as "elongated insects", name given by the design duo, Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli, who created the lean look and silhouette. The show took place in a medieval convent hospital in Paris, where huge images of swaying digital trees and pastel hues that mimicked the clothing cascaded the walls. The technology created the perfect atmosphere for the "Hidden Eden" collection. Soft chiffon and hard shark skin were the dominating materials used in Valentino's collection, creating remarkable items like a biker jacket with chiffon trim and a multi -pastel jacket made of feathers. The designers also managed to invent a new garment, a single sleeve jumpsuit with a hint of a tunic, the duo called this the "jump dress".

Consumer Behavior

Consumer Behavior Article: In Recession, Americans Doing More, Buying Less
Britney Case

With a recession at hand and a decreasing family income of almost half for some, many families are turning to family outdoor/indoor activities instead of shopping to keep themselves entertained. This has decreased the buying of clothing, electronics, and other random items, and increased the revenue for outdoor activities. Families have even turned to activities such as going to parks, riding bikes, and other such activities that cost little or no money. They younger crowd is experiencing an economic downturn as well, which some are experiencing for the first time. They are turning to saving instead of spending and really investigating the quality of the item they purchase, more conscious of how much they purchase or the way a store may organize their product to increase the chance that you will buy more. This has produced a recession of a different kind, increasing buying during the holiday season than in pasts, and decreasing year round as a total.

CLASSIC: The Chanel Suit

No matter how many times this suit is reinvented by Chanel the simplicity and line of the jacket and the silhouette of the suit remain a classic statement seen in closets young and old.

TREND: The Boyfriend Blazer

The boyfriend blazer can be purchased almost anywhere from Neiman Marcus to Forever 21 in every shape, size, fabric, and color. With the boyfriend blazer reappearing in runway shows for Spring '10 this trend doesn't look like it's going anywhere for at least another season.

FAD: Shutter Shades

The shutter shades.. worn by rappers, celebrities, and ravers. Served no purpose but to look...um...good?
Short-lived "fashion statement". Thank God.